


Royal Secret

by Book_lyfe



Series: 30 Different Writing Prompts [13]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Meet-Cute, Neither knows the other is royal, Pouting, Prince!Will, angry, prince AU, prince!Nico, royal au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 06:32:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14231379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Book_lyfe/pseuds/Book_lyfe
Summary: Nico likes visiting Apollo's kingdom. No one knows he's a prince there, not even their prince.





	Royal Secret

Nico walks along the road of the neighboring kingdom to his. 

Back in his  kingdom, the people always recognize him. Here, in Apollo’s kingdom, no one recognizes him. He’s free to walk the streets without being bombarded by people, he can go into a pub and order a drink without people sparing him anything more than a simple glance. Nothing interesting happens to him while in neighboring kingdoms, unless he’s on business for his father. 

However, that’s about to change.

\-------------------------------------

It was the beginning of the summer months that Nico was walking out of a jewelry shop, carrying a gift for his mother, when he ran into someone. Nico had nearly fallen to the ground, but the guy that he had run into, stretched out his arms and caught Nico before he could hit the cobblestone.

Nico looked up at the man holding him. He seemed to be around his age, seventeen or eighteen. He had golden hair and sky blue eyes. Nico felt as if he should know him, but couldn’t remember why. He was very handsome, and since the golden-haired boy’s arms were still wrapped around Nico, he blushed.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t expecting someone to be walking out of there,” The blond haired boy says, chuckling.

“It’s, um, it’s alright. It’s not like I saw you either,” Nico says, shrugging.

The blond smiles at Nico, glancing down at the ground. Nico watches as the other boy suddenly bends down, picking up a package. He realizes it’s the box with his mother’s necklace once the blond is handing it to him. He must’ve dropped it when they ran into each other.

“Uh, I think you dropped this.” 

“Oh, thank you.” Nico smiles, taking the package from him.

“Um, my name’s Will.” The blonde sticks a hand out for Nico to take.

“Nico.” Nico takes Will’s hand, gently shaking it before letting go. “Are you knew around here? I’m in town quite often, but I’ve never seen you around before.” Nico looks up at Will, stuffing the gift into the satchel he’s been wearing.

At first, Will seems shocked, blinking down at the raven-haired boy. “Oh, um, no. I just don’t get out often.” Nico notices the slight awkwardness in Will’s tone of voice but doesn’t question it.

“Well that’s a shame, I really love it here. I live over in Hades’ kingdom, but I definitely prefer it here.

Will grins at that, “Yes, it is quite beautiful here. Have you ever been to one of the festivals? The town always transforms into something amazing for them.”

“I can’t say that I have.” Nico shifts his weight from his left to the right.

“Well, there’s going to be one tomorrow to celebrate the summer months. This festival has always been my favorite, do you want to come? I could probably sneak away from my family, and show you some of my favorite parts? I mean, I know you said you visit often, but everything changes for the festival.” Will bites his lip, as if he’s suddenly nervous Nico will reject him.

“That sounds awesome, we can meet here right before noon?” Nico suggests, giddy at the thought of attending one of the festivals. He has a meeting in the morning, but he can definitely be here by noon if he lives a little early and takes a horse.

“That sounds perfect, I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

Nico nods, “Definitely.”

\-------------------------------------

The next morning, Nico is sitting in the meeting, not paying attention, and thinking only about Will. While he’s thinking about how soft will’s hair might be, he takes a glance out the window and notices that the sun is nearly at high noon. It’ll probably be an hour until noon, which means that Nico has to leave.

As soon as the military general spreads out some plans on to the table, and no one is looking his way, Nico slinks out of the room, as if he just slipped into the shadows, quickly and silently.

Once the doors are shut, Nico races down the hall, and outside to the stables. He had Travis and Connor, two of the stable boys, have his horse prepared so Nico wouldn’t waste any time. Nico catches sight of the brothers and his horse, thanks the boys, and jumps onto his horse, racing off towards Apollo’s kingdom.

He gets to Lou Ellen’s house in record time. Lou walks up to him as he’s dismounting his horse. 

“Nico! You’ve never come on a festival day,” She says, taking the reins of the horse.

“Well, I was invited.”

“You tellin me, that you’ve got more friends around here?” Lou asks, laughing a bit.

“I just met him yesterday, we agreed to meet just before noon. Speaking of, I better go, I’ll see you later?”

“Course, have fun.”

“I will, bye Lou!” Nico waves at Lou as he makes his way to the corner by the Jeweler's shop, giddy at the thought of seeing Will again.

When he arrives at the shop, he quickly spots Will, and walks over to him.

“Hey,” Nico says, waving at the blond.

Will looks over at Nico, and grins. “You ready to get going?”

Nico nods, “Lead the way.”

The two boys head off down the road, with Will making most of the small talk. Nico listens quietly, occasionally commenting on something. Nico likes the sound of Will’s voice, and thinks that he could, and probably will listen to it all day. Will buys them some food from the stands, which Nico feels bad for. For God’s sake, he’s a prince! He should be paying for this. But, Will, not knowing that the raven-haired boy is royalty, declines Nico’s offer for paying, and pays for everything himself.

Will shows Nico his favorite stands. At one of them, Will buys Nico a three-headed dog statue, saying that it fits him. Especially since he lives in Hades’ kingdom.

Nico laughs, and buys a sun figurine, telling will that this suits him, for living in Apollo’s kingdom.

The two boys continue walking along the road, occasionally stopping at the stands. Nico notices that Will avoids the jousting tournament, but he doesn’t comment on it. Nico isn’t a huge fan of jousting either, he much prefers a sword fight.

Near the end of the day, Will leads Nico to the lake's edge. The two boys sit in the sand, and Nico looks over at the blond.

“Is there a reason we’re sitting on a beach, or do you just like it here?”

“Well that, and this is the perfect place for the fireworks. Some merchant had come back from China a few months ago and brought with him what he called fireworks. They go up into the sky and explode, creating colors and lights. It’s really magnificent, I’ve only seen them once when they were tested. That was during the day though, I expect them to be even brighter at night.”

“That sounds amazing when are they starting?”

“Any minute now, a soon as the sun sets.”

And, sure enough, just five minutes later, a minute after the sun had gone down, Nico hears a small pop, and suddenly the sky is exploding with light. It’s probably one of the most beautiful scenes he’s ever seen. Blues and reds and purples paint the sky. Nico’s so caught up in staring at the colors, that he hardly realizes when Will’s hand covers his. At some point during the show, Nico and Will end up laying on the ground, Nico’s head on Will’s chest, and Will’s arms wrapped around Nico’s pale and skinny frame.

At the end of the show, the boys stay there, laying on the ground, resting and enjoying the moment. Neither of them speak, both of them believe that this won’t work out. Nico knows he has to marry someone of royal blood, so he definitely can’t be with someone that isn’t royal. But being with will feels so nice, it feels  _ right.  _ He doesn’t want to give this up. 

Maybe, just maybe, because Nico isn’t the oldest, he could somehow convince his father to let him be with who he wants to be with. Bianca is the one that needs to marry a royal. Sure, it would strengthen bonds if Nico married a royal, but Nico wants to marry for love. Not alliance.

Eventually, both boys force themselves to sit up, still holding on to each other.

“Do you think we could meet here again? Tomorrow?” Will asks, unsure of what Nico will answer with.

“Yes, that’d be great.” Nico leans closer to Will and plants a short kiss on the blond’s cheek. After which, Nico quickly leaves, looking back at Will before he’s too far. Nico grins to himself, Will’s still sitting there, a smile on his face.

\-------------------------------------

The two princes kept up their meetings. Twice a week, they’d spend a few hours together on the beach, talking, laughing, and kissing. A lot of kissing.

They always meet at the same spot. Sometimes Nico brings a picnic, other times Will does. Both bring the other small gifts, tokens of their affection. 

For weeks this goes on, and soon enough it’s mid-fall.

“Nico, it’s getting cold out soon. Where are we going to meet when it’s too cold to be outside?”

Nico thinks for a moment. “I have a friend, near the edge of town, we can meet at her place. I’m sure she’d be fine with it.

Will, unsure how it’d be, staying at someone’s house who knows he’s a prince. 

Neither of the boys has told the other of their royal background. Neither of them wants the other to treat them differently just because they’re a prince.

Soon, their problems will be fixed.

\-------------------------------------

“Nico, tomorrow morning we are leaving for Apollo’s kingdom. We are negotiating peace terms, and from my understanding, his youngest is also much more into men, like you are. There is a possibility that you will be married in a few short months.

Nico stares at his father, shocked.

“I know that you want to marry for love, but at least I’m not making you marry a lady,” Hades says, looking at his son sadly.

Nico doesn’t say anything, he just nods and storms out of the room. Wishing he had some way to contact Will. They aren’t meant to meet today, and he has no idea where Will lives.

\-------------------------------------

The next day, Nico doesn’t speak to his parents. He’s sitting in a carriage with Bianca and Hazel, heading towards Apollo’s castle. 

As he passes by the villager’s houses, he wonders which one Will is in, preparing for their date tonight, not knowing that Nico won’t be able to make it.

Soon after, Nico feels the carriage stop, and the doors open, revealing the front steps to the castle.

Nico gets out of the carriage last, walking up to stand between Bianca and his father.

“Hades! It’s good to see you.” Apollo says, walking towards Nico’s father, giving him a hug.

The two kings converse, as Nico looks around the courtyard. Eventually, they’re lead inside, into the throne room. 

“Apollo, I thought you had three children,” Hades says, looking at the two young adults standing near their thrones.

“Ah, yes, my youngest is pouting in his room. He wasn’t extremely excited about the possibility of marriage.

“That makes two of us,” Nico grumbles.

Ignoring Nico, Apollo continues. “He should be down soon, Austin, get your brother down here. He’s being rude.”

A boy with darker hair nods and makes his way out of the room.

Hades and Apollo continue to talk, as Bianca and Hazel make their way towards the other girl, Apollo’s daughter, in the room.

Nico slinks off to the corner, leaning against the wall, and crossing his arms. He should be preparing a dinner for him and Will right now. Not being stuck in some other King’s castle, waiting to meet the unwanted future husband.

Five minutes later, the doors open, and in walks Austin with another figure behind him. Once said figure is in the light, Nico’s eyes widen, and a huge smile breaks out on his face. Without thinking, he races towards Will and jumps into his arms.

Will, shocked, but recognizing the feel of Nico’s thin arms wrapped around him, quickly hugs him back, burying his face in the crook of Nico’s neck.

Everyone else in the room is silent, staring at the two boys.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a prince?” Nico mumbles into Will’s shirt.

Will pulls back, grinning, “I could ask you the same thing, Nico.” Nico blushes, still grinning. He then turns to his father and says; “I think this wedding can happen a few months earlier than you anticipated,” Nico says, glancing at Will for confirmation.

“Definitely a lot earlier.” Will leans down, capturing Nico’s lips in a soft kiss. Both boys are extremely glad that their parents decided to use them for their peace terms.


End file.
